News brief: Big stories of the day

Pakistan plans to take action against militant groups operating on its soil, a minister said on Monday, amid global pressure to act after a suicide bomber killed 40 Indian paramilitary police in Kashmir last month.

As the tension between India and Pakistan continues to simmer, it is the villagers caught between the two neighbours who suffer.

Since the Indian Air Force's air strike on Balakot, 35-year-old Madan Lal has been worried about the safety of his two children. His eyes and ears have been transfixed on the television ever since the strike, as have those of the other villagers.

Pakistan's flip-flop on terror continues with an updated list of terrorist organisations in the country saying 26/11 mastermind Hafiz Saeed's Jamaat ud Dawa (JuD) and Falah-e-Insaniat (FiF) have not been banned. The list, issued by the Pakistani Interior Ministry's NACTA or National Counter-Terrorism Authority of Pakistan on March 4, lists the JuD and FiF as organisations "under watch".

Britain's Junior Foreign Minister Mark Field was in India from March 1 to 3, during which time he met Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale and discussed recent tensions between India and Pakistan. He said the UK stands "shoulder-to-shoulder with India in condemnation of the appalling terror attack in Pulwama".

India Inc's external commercial borrowings (ECBs) fell by 45 per cent to $2.42 billion in January 2019 as compared to the year-ago period, data from RBI has shown.

Domestic firms had raised $5.40 billion from overseas sources during January 2018.